While Governor Perry’s 2012 campaign was a failure, his ad-shop was known for producing good, effective videos.

This ad, however, which shows a cackling cartoon Hillary stopping the “Scooby van” in order to watch a movie about her scandals, makes me wonder if they haven’t been into the “special” mushrooms:

It almost has me thinking they hired Fred Davis, the man behind the “Demon Sheep” ad of Carly Fiorina’s 2010 campaign for the US Senate.

Weird.

UPDATE: Commenter SteveInTN suggests this is based on the old Mystery Science Theater 3,000 show. I’d never watched that regularly, so it went right over my pointy head. Clever on the Perry team’s part, though. Good use of pop culture.

I’m beginning to think this is Kim Jong Un’s hobby: some people play Chess or collect stamps, he has generals who annoy him shot:

North Korea has publicly executed the country’s defense minister after the regime accused him of treason, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.

Hyon Yong Chol was killed by firing squad using an anti-aircraft gun at a military school in front of hundreds of people in Pyongyang around April 30, the agency reported, citing a media briefing by the National Intelligence Service at its headquarters in Seoul.

Hyon “was purged for lese majeste” because he was seen “dozing off” during a military event and “did not carry out Kim’s instructions,” the agency said. It wasn’t clear what instructions Hyon failed to carry out.

With “an anti-aircraft gun.” (pause) (imagines) The guy was probably obliterated by the first round.

Like I said, I’m beginning to think this is not just a way for Kim to make sure the army doesn’t even think of trying to overthrow him (1), but that this is his recreation. I mean, why else think of so many bizarre ways to kill someone when a bullet to the head will do, unless you think it’s entertaining? We’ve seen execution by mortar, by flamethrower, and by being thrown to the dogs. Execution by machine gun seems almost pedestrian by comparison, unless one is wasting an ex-girlfriend in the process.

Not that I feel all that sorry for the late General Hyon. Let’s face it, he had prospered under a Stalinist tyranny that has to rank as one of worst in human history. He was, up until the moment of his arrest, one of the elite: he almost certainly enjoyed good food, a nice apartment or even a home, car and driver, and probably some graft privileges. He was an elite in a regime that runs the world’s largest prison camp masquerading as a nation, in which not only are thousands sent to horrid prison camps on the flimsiest of pretexts, but their families, too. Whole generations of people are born in those hellholes knowing nothing but a living Hell. And while I’m not familiar with Minister Hyon’s career, I wouldn’t be surprised he had denounced people a time or two along the way, nor that he dutifully cheered when someone else got the ax.

So, no, I don’t have much sympathy for the capo when the Godfather finally decides to whack him. Risks of the job and all that. But I do hope he had no young family members, who otherwise are likely on their way to the North Korean gulag.

Footnote:
(1) Yet again I have to wonder if some general or generals aren’t —very quietly and very privately— considering taking out Kim before he decides they need to meet the firing squad. With a “Dear Leader” this bloodthirsty, it would seem a necessity of survival.

Via Moe Lane, I didn’t even know Hawaii had an independence movement, let alone that elements of the Chinese military had made noises about arming it in revenge for our help to Taiwan. Not that I give it much credence; I suspect the Judean People’s Front has more supporters. One part did catch my eye, however:

Not surprisingly, both the Hawaiian state government and the federal government dispute the independence activists’ claims. Both have tried to placate the movement by offering to recognize native Hawaiians as an American Indian tribe, with the same level of independence Indian tribes have had within the U.S. system of government.

Siu says the federal government has dismissed the independence claims as “water under the bridge” arguing that because of long U.S. government control that past claims of independence are no longer valid.

“Native Hawaiian people are quite insulted to be grouped as an American Indian tribe and so that has been totally rejected by our people,” he said.

I’m not sure Mr. Siu will gain much sympathy for his movement by calling it an insult to be grouped with the American Tribal Peoples; in fact, I think he should be darned grateful the US government has never carried out this threat. The Indians received wretched treatment at the hands of the US, such that I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. The kindest thing we could do for these people is abolish the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Meanwhile with regard to the Chinese “threat,” these guys need to get out more.

We’ve long known of the Muslim world’s fetish for conspiracy theories, but this one is a real gem. On an Egyptian television show last November, Jamal al-Din Ibrahim (1) claimed that the Islamic State was a creation of John McCain and that its leader, the “Caliph” Abu-Bakar al-Baghdadi, was trained by Mossad. And, if that wasn’t enough, he involved British Intelligence (an old bugbear among Middle Eastern conspiracy fans) and American traitor Edward Snowden.

Professor or not, Mr. al-Din is an expert in nuttiness:

Here’s an excerpt from the transcript:

Jamal Al-Din Ibrahim: ISIS has two meaning – an over meaning and the true meaning. On the face of it, ISIS means “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.”

Jamal Al-Din Ibrahim: Exactly. He said that this was a means to drag the Arab world into a quagmire, and at the same time, to get rid of all the terrorists in a clever way, in keeping with the ways of British intelligence.

…and…

This is a picture of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, right? That’s his picture with John McCain, right?

Interviewer: Exactly. Oh my!

Jamal Al-Din Ibrahim: And that’s his picture with various Arab organizations… Isn’t that his assistant, Muhammad Noor?

Interviewer: Yes, on the right.

Jamal Al-Din Ibrahim: Show us the previous picture again. There’s something fishy there. That’s his meeting with John McCain.

Interviewer: Yes, from about two years ago.

Jamal Al-Din Ibrahim: The guy with the camera is [Baghdadi’s] assistant, Muhammad Noor.

Interviewer: Right.

Jamal Al-Din Ibrahim: This proves that John McCain was establishing ISIS two years ago, when the Syrian revolution started. That’s him over there. ISIS leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi…

There are many annoying things about Senator McCain, but, somehow, I don’t think establishing a head-chopping Islamic revival movement is among them.

Sadly, this kind of thinking is all too common in the Muslim world, which wallows in a blame-others victim-hood.

Footnote:
(1) Who claims to be a former University of California. If so, it was probably at Irvine, where the anti-Israel and antisemitic craziness is strong.

According to the article, this isn’t something new for North Korea: Kim’s father, the late, demented Kim Jong Il, launched a state campaign against long hair on the grounds that it sucked the nutrients from one’s brain.

Really.

Anyway, a TV campaign was launched and “journalists” would go to people’s homes to confront them about their overly lengthy locks. This being North Korea, I suppose they were lucky not to be shot or fed to the dogs.

Back to Kim III, and regardless of whether this is true, it’s another illustration of why limited, constitutional government is best; when there are no limits to the powers of the rulers, there are also no limits to what they will do the the ruled. North Korea is just the extreme example that clarifies the point.